Jagers Wins MAC Hammer Throw Championship
5/11/2017 10:22:00 PM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Kent State track and field's Reggie Jagers III captured the 2017 Mid-American Conference Men's Hammer Throw Championship on Thursday, May 11, the first day of competition from the Kanley Track & Field Complex in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Jagers claimed his third career MAC title and first in the hammer by throwing a career-best mark of 66.22m (217' 3"), nearly 14 feet ahead of the rest of the field. Jagers' mark is the eighth-best in Kent State history and with the championship, Jagers makes it 16 straight years a Golden Flashes has captured a conference title in a throwing event.
Freshman Christian Champen collected a runner-up finish Thursday, taking second-place in the pole vault with a mark of 5.10m (16' 8.75"). In the men's javelin, Derek Adams finished in fourth-place with a personal-best mark of 58.12m (190' 8"), followed by Ryan Looser in ninth at 46.12m (151' 3.5").
Gabrielle Figueroa represented the Golden Flashes in the women's hammer throw, capturing third-place with at a distance of 57.48m (188' 6.75"). In the women's javelin, Vanessa Vodan took 14th with a mark of 34.62m (113' 6.75").
The men's and women's 10,000m runs were the only running events to go final on Thursday. On the men's side, Brandon Avers finished eighth with a time of 31:29.63. Rachel Slingluff and Morgan Arena ran in the women's 10k, taking 16th and 17th with times of 37:00.29 and 37:9.03, respectively.
After day one of the decathlon, TJ Lawson is in first-place with 4,113 points. In sixth-place is Looser with 3,369 points, followed by Mitchell Kubicki in seventh with 3,127 points. Lawson took first-place in four of the five events on Thursday and set personal-records in the 100m dash (10.96), high jump (2.05m), and shot put (14.13m).
With four events completed in the heptathlon, Chelsea Laury is in fifth-place with 3,130 points. Laury PR'ed in the 200m dash (24.91) and shot put (11.10m).
In the teams, Kent State's men's program is in third-place with 22 points and the women's program in is sixth with seven points.
Competition resumes Friday at 11 a.m. with the heptathlon long jump and the decathlon 110m hurdles. Follow the Golden Flashes on Twitter @KentStTrackXC for updates throughout weekend on the Golden Flashes performances at the MAC Championships.
Players Mentioned
